Line #48 ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUS


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6	[[quoteright:330:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Dennis_the_MenaceUS_868.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:330:Dennis and his dog, Ruff.]]
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9	''Dennis the Menace'' is a long-running {{newspaper comic\|s}}, created by Hank Ketcham, that first appeared in March 1951. It features the adventures of mischievous "five-an'-a-half"-year-old blond boy Dennis Mitchell, often at the expense of his parents, Henry and Alice, or his neighbor, Mr. Wilson.
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11	It has inspired [[Series/DennisTheMenace a live-action series]], [[WesternAnimation/DennisTheMenace an animated Saturday Morning Series]], and a few [[Film/DennisTheMenace live-action films]].
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13	Dennis was also the mascot of Dairy Queen from 1971 to 2001. DQ dropped him because they felt children didn't relate to him anymore.
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15	Dennis had his own comic book series for a time. In them, Dennis was depicted as just a normal small boy, realistically thoughtless and reckless for his age. His status as a "menace" was entirely due to the unforeseen consequences of his adventures and Dennis was usually responsible and mature enough to own up when he realised he'd done something wrong.
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17	In the comic books, Dennis was occasionally the victim of his own menacing, such as the time his father accidentally gives him $10 instead of $1 (in the 1960s when money was worth a lot more) to buy food at a food fair and Dennis spends it all. As such, he got a massive stomach ache.
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19	Not to be confused with the British comic book character also called [[ComicStrip/DennisTheMenaceUK Dennis the Menace]], who stars in a completely different and unrelated eponymous strip which [[SimilarlyNamedWorks also coincidentally debuted in March of 1951]]. In Britain, the cartoon and film based on this comic is thus simply called ''Dennis!''.
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21	!!The comic strip provides examples of:
22	* AbhorrentAdmirer: Margaret is occasionally depicted as having a crush on Dennis. Unfortunately for her, Dennis is still very much at an age where he feels that GirlsHaveCooties.
23	* AcidRefluxNightmare: In a Sunday strip from [[http://dennisthemenace.com/comics/june-10-2012/ June 10, 2012,]] Dennis has a nightmare where his father, Mr. Wilson and his dog Ruff have all been sentenced by his mother to sitting in the Corner of Shame with him. In the last panel he wakes up and asks, "Yikes, what did I eat last night?!"
24	* TheAllAmericanBoy: Despite the name, Dennis is a pretty good example of this trope.
25	* AuthorAvatar: One comic book issue had Dennis and his father meeting Al Wiseman and Fred Toole, the artist and writer of the comic book itself!
26	* BabysittersNightmare: Dennis has proven to be such a terror to every babysitter watching him that no babysitter has volunteered to look after him a second time. It has gotten to the point that Alice and Henry are up to "Z" in the phone book. One particular strip has Dennis, dressed in a cowboy outfit, having BoundAndGagged his sitter to a chair, saying "You knew the job was dangerous when you took it."
27	* BadlyBatteredBabysitter: No one who babysits Dennis ever did it twice!
28	* BigFriendlyDog: Ruff. In some media like the 1986 cartoon or comic books, he could be much bigger than Dennis.
29	* BizarreTasteInFood: Dennis had this. In one of the comic books, he added ketchup to his milk while at school. In the newspaper panels, he'd mix up other strange concoctions to eat like peanut butter with horseradish in a sandwich.
30	* BlackBeadEyes: Dennis and pretty much every character had these.
31	* BoysLikeCreepyCritters: One of Dennis' pets is a frog named Willy. Dennis smuggles Willy with him wherever he goes, and sometimes tricks Margaret into kissing him.
32	* BratsWithSlingshots:
33	** TropeCodifier.
34	** Subverted in one daily panel where Dennis explains to a confused Joey holding his slingshot that he rarely uses it as he wouldn't hurt cats, birds or dogs and his father won't let him shoot at people.
35	* BrokenGlassPenalty: Dennis and his friends frequently do this to the Wilson house.
36	* CatStereotype: Hot Dog, introduced in the mid-to-late 1970s, is an orange cat. True to the orange cat stereotype, he is friendly to Dennis.
37	* CharlieBrownBaldness: Joey eventually developed this via ArtEvolution. In the early years, he had a full head of dark, curly hair before going down to one big strand on the edge of his head.
38	* ComicBookAdaptation: A few of them came out over the years, being published by Fawcett, Standard/Pines and Creator/MarvelComics.
39	* CompetitionCouponMadness: In the comic book story "Dennis vs. Television", Dennis collects cereal box tops without actually buying the cereal, hoping to win a big prize.
40	* CrankyNeighbor: Mr. Wilson. Though, to be fair, you'd be cranky too if Dennis was your neighbor.
41	** Well, [[MenaceDecay once upon a time]], at least.
42	%% * CuriousAsAMonkey: Dennis
43	* DependingOnTheArtist: The strip's current artists have very different styles. Marcus Hamilton, the Monday-through-Saturday artist, draws the strip in a very close approximation of Hank Ketcham's style in his later years, while Sunday artist Ron Ferdinand (who also draws a few daily panels on occasion) has a far looser and sketchier style than either Ketcham or Hamilton.
44	* TheDreadedPretendTeaParty: Dennis scrupulously avoids Margaret's tea parties, unless there's plenty of cookies available. No amount of cookies, however, can compel Dennis to attend one of Margaret's piano or violin recitals.
45	* DropInCharacter: Dennis, to the Wilsons. ''Mrs.'' Wilson doesn't object to this, but her husband certainly does.
46	* ExactWords: One strip has Dennis get in trouble with a park ranger for disobeying an "ALL DOGS MUST BE ON LEASH" sign. Dennis points out that Ruff is, in fact, on a leash, and that the sign never said anything about someone holding the other end.
47	* FleaEpisode: In "Flea For Your Life!", Alice catches Ruff itching and decides to get some flea powder. Ruff hides from Alice to avoid getting powdered, then takes a nap. During this time, he has a nightmare where a swarm of fleas attack him and he is unable to get away from them since he has weights tied to his feet. After this nightmare, he willingly lets Alice powder him, much to her surprise.
48	* GirlsHaveCooties: Played straight mostly; Dennis doesn't like being kissed by females or being affectionate with them, especially Margaret. Some cartoons imply he may [[ShipTease feel differently about]] Gina.
49	* GirlyBruiser: Margaret was sometimes this DependingOnTheWriter. One of the comic books has her getting into a fistfight with Dennis. A few daily panels show Margaret taking up karate, judo, etc and giving Dennis a firsthand demonstration.
50	* GleefulAndGrumpyPairing: Dennis and Mr. Wilson, respectively. Dennis is an energetic and happy-go-lucky young boy who idolizes Mr. Wilson, who just wants some peace and quiet and doesn't appreciate his company.
51	* GrannyClassic: Mrs. Wilson often acts this way, especially to Dennis. WordOfGod states that she deeply regrets that she and Mr. Wilson never had kids of their own, causing her to treat Dennis like he was her own grandson.
52	* GrumpyOldMan: Mr. Wilson again, and for the same reason.
53	** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: However, it's implied that he likes Dennis more than he is willing to let on.
54	* HatesBaths: Dennis is shown to dislike baths, and will often try to make some kind of excuse to get out of taking one, such as "I don't need a whole bath, my clothes kept the rest of me clean." and "Another bath? Does dad know you're hikin' up the water bill?". A comic book story featured his dog Ruff having a similar aversion to baths, but otherwise ''loving'' getting wet. According to Dennis, it was the soap that they both loathed (one strip even had Dennis say that the soap will last longer if he leaves the wrapper on it).
55	%%* InformedAbility
56	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: As much as Dennis acts like a jerk to Margaret at times, there have been the odd occasion where he'll come through for her. A Sunday strip from a time back showed Margaret sitting on her porch crying because, as she tells Dennis, a bully stole her doll. Dennis clocks the bully, retrieves the doll and returns it to a grateful Margaret. As much as he was happy to do it, Dennis just as well tells Margaret to not mention it to anyone.
57	* IntergenerationalFriendship: Dennis has one with Mrs. Wilson. He ''thinks'' he has one with Mr. Wilson.
58	* KidsHateVegetables: Dennis hates carrots. In [[https://sacredappetite.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/dennis_the_menace1.gif a few]] [[https://i.pinimg.com/736x/75/a4/59/75a459c79c3237b215ea15a9afa2aca7.jpg strips]] , he'd try unsuccessfully to get rid of them.
59	* LastResortTakeout: Invoked when Dennis deliberately ruined the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner so the family can order pizza.
60	* LimitedWardrobe: Dennis always wears his IconicOutfit of striped shirt and red overalls, except in church or other "dress-up" scenes where he's seen with a white button-down shirt, a tie, and a blue jacket and slacks.
61	* LoudSleeperGag: In "Teacher's [=HELPer=]", Ms. Johnson serves as the substitute teacher for Dennis' kindergarten classroom, since Dennis' regular teacher Mrs. Garner is out sick. Dennis manages to drive Ms. Johnson crazy, so she insists that everyone take a nap after recess over (mostly so she can take a nap herself). Dennis manages to keep her awake during naptime, first by snoring like Henry, his father, then by barking like Ruff, his pet dog, saying it's the way they sleep. While Dennis' classmates are amused, Miss Johnson, unfortunately, is not.
62	* LoveTriangle: Dennis, Gina and Margaret.
63	* MeaningfulName: Hot Dog, Dennis' cat, got his name when he ate a whole package of hot dogs.
64	* MenaceDecay (the TropeNamer)
65	* {{Nephewism}}: Inverted -- Dennis treats the Wilsons like his grandparents.
66	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: One strip has Dennis and Henry encounter ''ComicStrip/PearlsBeforeSwine''-creator Stephen Pastis at a convention, to which Dennis [[TakeThat asks what his real job is]].
67	* NoCommunitiesWereHarmed: The comic strip's locale is based on Wichita, Kansas.
68	* NotInFrontOfTheKid: Dennis has a really bad habit of overhearing and/or misinterpreting what his parents (usually his dad) says and then repeating it to the person, asking one guy what sports he plays because his dad called him a 'player', or saying that one guy couldn't be 'as bald as a billiard ball' like his dad said because the guy still has his eyebrows.
69	* OneHeadTaller:
70	** The rather spindly Henry is portrayed as being much taller than Alice.
71	** In some installments of the comic strip Margaret has been drawn as noticeably taller than Dennis or Joey, even in flats.
72	* ParentService: Dennis' mom, who is drawn very attractively, is sometimes used for light (but still family-friendly) fanservice in the context of gags, such as taking a bath or laying on the beach in a bathing suit.
73	* PrintLongRunners: Six decades and counting.
74	* RealMenHateAffection: Dennis didn't like his mother hugging or kissing him when anyone else can see, especially neighborhood children. At least one daily panel actually has Dennis ducking down so nobody can see his mother holding him.
75	* RegalRinglets: Margaret has this hairstyle.
76	* {{Retraux}}: The strip retains a 1950s drawing style, despite [[ComicBookTime always being set in the present day]].
77	* ShoutOut: The character Gina was named after Creator/GinaLollobrigida (the character's Italian ancestry is also a reference to her).
78	* SoapPunishment: In one strip, Dennis comes outside, with bubbles coming out of his mouth, and he tells his friend that he was "right about that word."
79	* SupremeChef: Mrs. Wilson is one as both Mr. Wilson and Dennis enjoy her cooking. Dennis even lampshades this by asking Mr. Wilson why he never kisses Mrs. Wilson for being such a good cook.
80	* TimeOut: A frequent punishment for Dennis, usually shown sitting facing towards the wall and grumbling about the punishment or what he did.
81	* {{Tomboy}}: Gina Gilloti (who IS actually [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak quite a cutie]]).
82	* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Gina and Margaret, respectively. Gina usually wears jeans and sneakers and plays sports with the boys. Margaret wears a flouncy skirt and pushes a doll in a baby carriage. Dennis, who makes a big deal about his own butchness, is more comfortable with the former.
83	* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Without a doubt, pizza ... to the point where (he thinks) he practically can live on it. [[DoesNotLikeSpam On the exact opposite of the spectrum]]: vegetables, especially when they were served as part of a meal that had no pizza in sight. Especially carrots at any time.
84	** In the comic books, it was ice cream.
85	* TrainingThePet: In ''Dennis the Menace and Ruff'', Dennis loves [[ALizardNamedLiz Ruff]], his pet dog, but his parents and his next-door neighbor, Mr. Wilson see Ruff as a nuisance since Ruff buries his bones in the Mitchells' backyard, leaves muddy pawprints in the Mitchell's house, and licks the dishes. Dennis has to teach Ruff to behave or his parents will send him away. For a while, Dennis succeeds in his lessons, including training Ruff to save a baby from drowning by practicing with his teddy bear, and as a result, Henry reluctantly lets Ruff join them in a party at Uncle Dick's house. On the way to the party, Ruff snatches a police officer's hat, and Dennis is now sure that his parents will send Ruff away. At the party, Dennis' two-year-old cousin, Billy falls into a pond and is in danger of drowning. [[ChekhovsClassroom Ruff sees Billy and rescues him just as Dennis taught him]], is praised as a hero, and Henry decides never to send Ruff away after his heroic deed.
86	* UglyGuyHotWife: Henry and Alice. More than once Dennis has referred to this situation:
87	-->'''Dennis (to Henry):''' How come everybody says ''you'' were lucky to marry Mom and nobody says ''she'' was lucky to marry you?

Context ComicStrip / DennisTheMenaceUS